DALLAS — The main phone lines at the Urban League of Greater Dallas appeared to be disconnected on Tuesday.
Workers were busy outside the organization's Lancaster Road headquarters Tuesday afternoon, removing signs and logos that promote the National Urban League brand and its signature equality symbol.
It was a significant move, coming one day after the National Urban League filed a federal lawsuit against its now-former Dallas affiliate and board chair Terry Woods.
"To us, we feel like it's an unnecessary, unprofessional move to disaffiliate an organization that's been around for over 48 years and helped over 100,000 people a year," Woods said.
The lawsuit filed by the national civil rights organization was not much of a surprise, he added. It claims the Dallas group's continued use of the National Urban League's symbols causes confusion among consumers, donors, and causes damage to the NUL's reputation and goodwill.
There has been friction between the groups since July, when the NUL board voted to disaffiliate the Dallas chapter over allegations including poor money management and administrative issues.
"We're still continuing to help community members and the under-served," Woods said.
The Dallas office has lost a significant amount of funding due to its internal reporting, accounting, and administrative issues, according to the NUL.
Workers at the Urban League of Greater Dallas say the office continues to run computer, education, and housing classes among other social service programs.
Woods said the local office has scaled back services and had experienced staff reductions.
"We've had to make some decisions to cut back in staff," Woods said. "If a particular grant is not there, then we can't offer the service."
For now, he said the Dallas office is running with the help of donations from local churches.
He said the Urban League of Greater Dallas will fight the issue in court.
